Eat Your Homework

Thanks to TV food shows, cooking classes are heating up nationwide. Here’s a sampler of culinary classes around the country, and tips on finding a school near you.

By Andrea Pyenson for MSN City Guides

Bam! Yum-o! Allez, cuisine! Do you want to learn to cook big and loud, like Emeril? Throw together simple, tasty little dishes a la perky Rachael Ray? Impress your dinner guests with the unflappable demeanor of a true Iron Chef? With the explosion of cooking classes nationwide, you should have no trouble finding one to fit whatever culinary style you’re after.

Across the country, chefs are the new rock stars, and everybody wants in on the show. This has created a huge culinary aftermarket, from restaurants to kitchenware stores to cooking classes. In the past five to 10 years, there has been a dramatic increase in cooking classes in particular.

"I probably wouldn't have a cooking school if it weren't for Food TV," says Cherie Mercer Twohy of Chez Cherie in La Canada, Calif., expressing a sentiment echoed by other cooking school owners and instructors. According to these teachers, people who come to cooking classes generally fall into two categories: Those who are genuinely interested in learning to cook and those who are looking for entertainment. But they all love food. They come alone, with friends, with spouses or significant others. They range in age from their teens to their 70s.

Classes run the gamut from hands-on to demonstration to team-building, which is a more recent development offered most often as a corporate experience. They are held in commercial kitchens, kitchen and housewares stores, restaurants and private homes. They cover the full range of skill levels, techniques and ethnic cuisines.

What follows is a sample of culinary class offerings in the Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles areas.To find a cooking class near you, start by checking the class listings at the local adult education center, which often will have such courses. Talk to friends, particularly those who are foodies, about where they might go—many instructors rely on word of mouth for soliciting students. And don’t forget to ask your favorite restaurant if it offers cooking classes—chances are you might be able to learn how to make the dishes you love under the tutelage of a chef you’re familiar with.